Food cooking oven

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a food cooking oven comprising a chamber, a turbine which is used to agitate the atmosphere in the chamber and a heating device which is disposed at the centre of the turbine.

The present invention relates to ovens for cooking food.

More particularly, the invention relates to an oven for cooking food that comprises:

-   -   an enclosure for receiving the food to be heated and for         containing a cooking atmosphere, the enclosure having two         horizontal walls forming respectively a bottom and a ceiling,         interconnected by at least two vertical side walls, said         enclosure being closed by at least one door that is also         vertical;     -   a heater device placed inside the enclosure; and     -   a fan also placed inside the enclosure comprising at least one         blade rotating about a central space, following a circular path         centered on an axis of rotation in order to stir the cooking         atmosphere heated by the heater device.

Ovens of this type are already known in which, for example, the food for cooking is placed on trays disposed at a plurality of levels. In such ovens, the food must all cook at the same speed and with the same degree of cooking at all of the levels. It is therefore particularly important to ensure that heat is distributed uniformly within such ovens.

A particular object of the present invention is to improve the uniformity with which heat is distributed within the enclosure of an oven of this type.

To this end, according to the invention, an oven is provided which, in addition to the characteristics mentioned above, is characterized by the fact that the heater device is placed facing the central space situated inside the circular path.

By means of these dispositions, the heat produced by the heater device is sucked in by the fan and then distributed around it in uniform manner. This contributes to considerably improving the distribution of heat throughout the volume of the enclosure.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, recourse may optionally be had to one or more of the following dispositions:

-   -   the axis of rotation is horizontal; thus, for example, the fan         is mounted to rotate on one of the vertical walls of the         enclosure;     -   the heater device is an electric element or a burner for burning         gas;     -   in this last case, the burner comprises a bowl and a plate, the         bowl being connected to a duct for feeding gas for burning, and         being closed by the plate covering its face facing towards the         wall of the enclosure on which the fan is mounted, the plate         being provided with orifices for passing the gas for burning;         the burner is thus oriented towards the wall of the enclosure on         which the fan is mounted; thus, if the burner and the fan are         protected merely by a simple grid, the heat generated by the         burner is not emitted directly towards the food to be heated         and/or cooked;     -   the orifices in the plate of the burner are adapted so that the         flames generated by burning the gas for burning are distributed         over 360° about the axis of rotation;     -   wires for electrically powering a device for lighting the gas of         the burner pass within the feed duct; advantage is thus taken of         the relatively low temperature that exists inside the feed duct,         given that it is swept by the gas for burning, thereby         protecting the electrical power supply wires contained therein;     -   the plate is provided with an igniter electrode and with a flame         control device, e.g. operating by ionization; and     -   the oven includes a protective grid provided with a frame         defining an opening of area greater than or substantially equal         to the area of the fan when considered perpendicularly to the         axis of rotation.

Other aspects, objects, and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description of an embodiment thereof.

The invention will also be better understood with the help of the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an embodiment of an oven of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic section view of the oven shown in FIG. 1, on the vertical plane perpendicular to its back wall, intersecting the back wall and the burner substantially in the middle;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic section in a plane analogous to that of FIG. 2, showing the burner of the oven shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the plate of the burner shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic front view of a variant of the protective grid which, in certain variants of the oven of the invention, serves to protect its burner and its fan; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic section view through the protective grid shown in FIG. 5.

In the various figures, the same references are used to designate elements that are identical or similar.

An embodiment of the oven of the invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, the oven 1 of the invention comprises an enclosure 2 contained in a casing 3. The casing 3 has means 4 for regulating temperature inside the enclosure 2, and a door 5 for inserting food into the enclosure 2.

The enclosure 2 is substantially in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a front face 6 that is open or closed by the door 5, a back wall 7 that is opposite the front wall 6, two vertical side walls 8 between the front face 6 and the back wall 7, and a bottom wall 9 and a ceiling 10 forming two horizontal walls.

As shown in FIG. 2, the oven 1 of the invention also comprises a heater device 11, a fan 12, a protective grid 13, and slideways 14. The fan 12 is mounted on the back wall 7.

The heater device 11 is placed inside the enclosure 2 facing the fan 12. Advantageously it is a burner for burning gas. It is fed with gas for burning by a duct 15. The burner is ignited by an electrode 16 that is powered electrically by a wire 17 penetrating into the burner via the duct 15. The burner is described in greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The burner advantageously includes a flame control device 16 a, e.g. using ionization, that is connected to a control unit (not shown) by a wire 17 a.

The gas for burning is advantageously a mixture of air and gas and it is delivered to the burner at small positive pressure.

The fan 12 is constituted by a disk 18 centered on an axis of rotation 19. At the periphery of the disk 18, the fan 12 has a plurality of blades 20 that are regularly distributed angularly around the axis of rotation 19. The blades 20 are constituted, for example, by plane rectangular plates extending in planes that are substantially perpendicular to the disk 18 and that include the axis of rotation 19. While they are being rotated, they follow a circular path centered on the axis of rotation 19 and defining a central space 21. The fan 12 is rotated about the axis of rotation 19 by a motor 22, e.g. an electric motor. It serves to distribute the heat energy within the enclosure 2.

The protective grid 13 extends in a vertical plane facing the disk 18, in front of the burner 11 and the fan 12, relative to the space 23 that is to receive the food to be heated and that is situated between the burner 11 and the door 5.

Ten pairs of slideways 14 are disposed substantially horizontally on the side walls 8. Each side wall 8 has one of the slideways 14 of each pair. These slideways 14 enable trays to be supported, which in turn serve to carry the food that is to be heated and/or cooked.

The burner 11 is placed facing the central space 21. Advantageously, a portion of the burner 11 penetrates into the central space 21. The enclosure 2 includes an exhaust orifice 31 for exhausting gas contained inside the enclosure 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the burner 11 comprises a bowl 24 and a plate 25. Advantageously the bowl 24 and the plate 25 are made of brass.

The bowl 24 is connected to the feed duct 15 and it is closed by the plate 25 on the side of the burner 11 that faces towards the back wall 7 of the enclosure 2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the plate 25 is in the form of a ring with a central opening 26 which is extended, perpendicularly to the plate 25 to the bottom of the bowl 24 by a tube 27. The plate 25 is substantially 15 millimeters (mm) in thickness. The zone of the ring that is situated between the central opening 26 and its periphery is pierced by orifices 28 that are regularly spaced apart on eight concentric circles A-H. These concentric circles have respective diameters of 66 mm, 74 mm, 82 mm, 90 mm, 98 mm, 106 mm, 114 mm, and 122 mm. On these circles, there are to be found respectively 32, 32, 40, 48, 48, 64, 64, and 64 orifices 28. Each orifice 28 has a diameter that is substantially equal to 2.4 mm.

The plate 25 includes a setback 29 having a depth that is substantially equal to 3 mm. As a result, the orifices 28 are not directly flush with the surface of the plate 25 and they are thus protected in part from the turbulence generated by the fan 12. The shapes of the orifices 20 and of the setback 29 are adapted so that, under the effect of the fan 12, the flames generated by burning the gas extend radially relative to the central opening 26 over 360°.

The plate 25 also has two passages 30 for the igniting electrode 16 and for the flame control device 16 a.

The burner of the invention can be varied in numerous ways without going beyond the ambit of the invention.

Thus, in a variant that is not shown, the enclosure 2 has a front face and a rear face each of which can be opened or closed by a door. Under such circumstances, a fan 12 is mounted, for example, on at least one of the side walls 8, and the heater device 11 is placed facing each fan 12.

In other variants, a plurality of fans and a plurality of burners are placed on the same wall.

In yet other variants, the oven of the invention has a protective grid 13 of the kind shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Unlike the grid described above, this protective grid 13 is not restricted to an area corresponding to that facing the fan 12. The protective grid 13 is supported by a metal frame 40. The frame 40 extends over a major fraction of the opening in the internal cavity of the enclosure 2 in a plane parallel to the back wall 7. The dimensions of the frame 40 are substantially equal to or greater than the dimensions of the fan 12. Thus, the cooking atmosphere flows inside the enclosure 2 by being sucked towards the center of the fan 12 inside the frame 40, and then blown away at the periphery of the fan 12 outside the frame 40. The frame 40 may act as a reflector. By way of example, the frame 40 is held within the enclosure 2 by tabs 41 engaging the bottom 9 and the ceiling 10. In some variants, the protective grid 13 and the frame 40 can be easily removed so as to be cleaned independently of the oven 1. 

1. An oven for cooking food, the oven comprising: an enclosure for receiving the food to be heated and for containing a cooking atmosphere, the enclosure having two horizontal walls forming respectively a bottom and a ceiling, interconnected by at least two vertical side walls, said enclosure being closed by at least one door that is also vertical; a heater device placed inside the enclosure; and a fan also placed inside the enclosure comprising at least one blade rotating about a central space, following a circular path centered on an axis of rotation in order to stir the cooking atmosphere heated by the heater device; the oven whereby the heater device is placed facing the central space situated inside the circular path.
 2. An oven according to claim 1, in which the axis of rotation is horizontal.
 3. An oven according to claim, in which the heater device is a burner for burning gas.
 4. An oven according to claim 3, in which the burner comprises a bowl and a plate, the bowl being connected to a duct for feeding gas for burning, and being closed by the plate covering its face facing towards the wall of the enclosure on which the fan is mounted, the plate being provided with orifices for passing the gas for burning.
 5. An oven according to claim 4, in which the orifices in the plate of the burner are adapted so that the flames generated by burning the gas for burning are distributed over 3600 about the axis of rotation.
 6. An oven according to claim 4, in which wires for electrically powering a device for lighting the gas of the burner pass within the feed duct.
 7. An oven according to claim 4, in which the plate is provided with an igniter electrode and with a flame control device.
 8. An oven according to claim 1, including a protective grid provided with a frame defining an opening of area greater than or substantially equal to the area of the fan when considered perpendicularly to the axis of rotation. 